Kyle Larson punched his ticket to the Championship 4 after winning Sunday’s South Point Casino 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
As Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, is the only driver locked into the finale at Phoenix Raceway inthe Round of 8, the remaining seven drivers are searching for winning performance to advance.
Heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway, second through fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff grid are separated by a mere 11 points.
Here are the latest playoff standings:
Safe, But Not Secure
2. William Byron (+9)
William Byron is the only driver who has a hint of a cushion entering the final two races in the Round of 8.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver tallied a strong seventh-place finish on Sunday, continuing his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to five straight.
Despite a solid result, Byron’s gap above the cutline dropped from 20 points to nine.
Byron won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2021 and he finished 12th there last year.
3. Martin Truex Jr. (+2)
The puzzling run Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team had been on of late ended Sunday as Truex finished ninth, his first top-10 finish since Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l in August.
Having to rely on his 15 bonus points from winning the regular season championship, it’s been tough sledding for the 2017 Cup Series champion.
After finally snagging a top-10 result, Truex has confidence rolling into the 1.5-mile oval in Florida.
“It’s a track I feel good about,” Truex said. “Recent success is always important. Now (we’re back) racing with the NextGen car we got to race there for the first time (last year). That went really well and we were in position to win that race late and we had issues getting spun on pit road that took us out of it.
“Definitely have a lot of confidence going there with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. I feel like we have a good notebook from last year to go off of. It’s a place where I think we can make something happen.”
Truex owns one victory and five finishes of sixth or better in his last six trips to Homestead.
4. Denny Hamlin (+2)
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin led 23 laps during Sunday’s race at Las Vegas before falling to 10th late in the race. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota finds himself two points above the cutline, currently tied with Truex.
Despite roaming above the cutline by a slim margin, Hamlin’s a seasoned veteran in this position. The last four seasons has seen Hamlin vie for a spot in the Championship 4 and succeed three times.
Hamlin boasts six poles, three victories and an average finish of 9.8 at the Homestead track.
Outside Looking In
5. Christopher Bell (-2)
A runner-up result at Las Vegas left Christopher Bell believing he had given up his ‘moment to make the Final Four.’
The fight continues for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver as he lurks below sea-level, two markers behind his two JGR teammates.
In three starts at Homestead, Bell has a best finish of eighth in 2020.
6. Tyler Reddick (-16)
Despite a solid eighth-place finish in Las Vegas, Tyler Reddick’s gap below the cutline doubled to 16 points. While he’s not in must-win territory yet, it’ll be crucial for Reddick to rattle off strong results in the final two races in the Round of 8.
The 23XI Racing driver has shown plenty of strength at Homestead, including two finishes of fourth or better in his last three Cup Series races there.
7. Ryan Blaney (-17)
After his post-race penalty was rescinded by NASCAR, Ryan Blaney retained valuable points as he sits 17 markers out of the Championship 4. Blaney, who finished sixth, has been on an uptick of late.
A win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, 12th-place finish at the Charlotte (N.C.) ROVAL and sixth in Las Vegas are the three most recent results for the Team Penske driver.
Blaney has a best finish of third (2020) at Homestead. In eight starts, Blaney has an average finish of 18.6 at the south Florida facility.
8. Chris Buescher (-23)
After starting fifth, Chris Buescher earned a respectable 11th-place finish at Las Vegas. Though it turned into a detrimental finish for the RFK Racing driver as he dropped from three points below the cutline to 23 markers behind.
A big reason why Buescher suffered a big points loss is due to him not scoring any stage points throughout the 267-lap race.
It’ll be a tall task to claw back into the Championship 4 hunt, and Buescher may be in must-win situation if he doesn’t have a better result at Homestead.
Buescher has a best finish of 13th (last year) at Homestead.